Sales were also helped by the swathe of stores it recently acquired from Phones 4U, which have now been rebranded.

Overall the group’s organic service revenue measurement, which strips out items like handset sales and currency movements, fell 0.4% – a marked improvement on the 1.5% fall in the second quarter and a forecast of 0.7%.

The group had recorded falls in the main revenue measurement of between 4 and 5% in the last six quarters, as consumers in Europe cut back on using their phones and regulatory changes forced operators to cut their fees.

Vodafone plans to respond to the tough conditions on the continent by moving into superfast fixed-line broadband networks.

It will either build or buy a network, which it hopes will help it compete with rivals offering mobile contracts alongside television, broadband or fixed-line deals.